Israel on high alert across all borders as "Global March to
Jerusalem" kicks off • Firebombs thrown by violent protesters at
Qalandia checkpoint • Report: Iranian Revolutionary Guard soldiers
stationed near Lebanon´s Litani River.

Security forces in Judea and Samaria, the Galilee and the Golan
Heights were on the highest level of alert on Friday in anticipation
of mass marches to Israel’s borders scheduled to take place during
the day by pro-Palestinian activists.

As part of the “Global March to Jerusalem” campaign, pro-Palestinian
activists from neighboring countries and beyond planned to march
toward Israel’s borders in a show of support for the Palestinians.

The marches were scheduled for Friday, March 30, which Israeli Arabs
mark as Land Day, the anniversary of a 1976 general Palestinian
strike to protest Israel’s announcement that it would expropriate
land for settlements. Observance of Land Day has now evolved into a
show of solidarity with the Palestinians.

Intelligence assessments ahead of the marches said that the scope of
the protests would be limited, but the IDF was still preparing for
extreme scenarios. As such, soldiers stationed at potential hot spots
were given updated protocols, commanders surveyed the areas ahead of
time, and security forces were reinforced with crowd dispersal
equipment.

The defense establishment was most concerned with possible
infiltrations from the Lebanese border, though security forces were
closely monitoring the Syrian border as well.

IDF Chief of General Staff Maj. Gen. Benny Gantz on Friday toured
border areas in central and northern Israel, including along the
Jordan Valley, and conducted security assessments with division
commanders in Judea and Samaria and near the Jordanian, Syrian and
Lebanese borders. Gantz instructed security forces to be alert and
act with discretion in the event of any disturbances along the border
areas.

During last year’s “Nakba Day” events, hundreds of Arab demonstrators
from Syria protesting the “catastrophe” of Israel’s establishment
infiltrated the northern border into Israel and clashed with
soldiers, leading to the death of several rioters and sparking an
international outcry against Israel.

According to Arab media outlets, tens of thousands of protesters
planned on marching towards Israel to “protest the Israeli
occupation.” Protest organizers have vowed that they would not allow
activists to breach the borders.

Activists in Lebanon on Friday morning began commemorating Land Day
by staging a march to the Beaufort Castle, which lies near the
Lebanon-Israel border.

Between 5,000 and 7,000 Lebanese, Palestinian and foreign
demonstrators were expected to arrive at the castle where speeches
were expected to be delivered and Friday prayers were to be held,
Lebanon’s Daily Star newspaper reported.

A Lebanese security source told newspaper that the Lebanese Army
would enforce measures to prevent protesters from entering into the
area south of the Litani River, which is within the field of
operation of the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon. However, other
Lebanese media reports said that members of Iran’s Revolutionary
Guard were stationed in the area and would attempt to incite
protesters to march toward the border with Israel.

Witnesses told The Daily Star that the military was heavily deployed
in the border areas of Maroun al-Ras and Bint Jbeil.

Abdel-Malek Sukkarieh, the media coordinator of the national
committee for the Global March to Jerusalem, told The Daily Star that
he did not expect any security incidents.

“Not at all, we are fully coordinating with Lebanese authorities. We
are away from the border fence and there is no physical contact with
the enemy’s army,” he said.

Sources also told The Daily Star that the Palestinian Fatah movement
and some other Palestinian factions would only be represented at the
march in Lebanon by their cadres, rather than supporters. The groups
apparently cited “logistical reasons” for their limited participation.

Arab media reports on Thursday stated that Israel sent an assertive
message, using a third party, to Syria and Lebanon ahead of the
march, warning them not to allow protesters to approach the border.

In Jordan, the Public Security Department said authorities will
deploy large-scale forces in the Jordan Valley “in a bid to ensure
the safety of participants and secure the border region,” the Jordan
Times reported Friday.

“We are working with organizers and other security services to ensure
the march stays peaceful and does not impact the border region,”
department spokesman Lt. Col. Mohammed Khatib told The Jordan Times.

IDF troops were also bracing for events within Israel’s borders, in
Judea and Samaria and the Gaza Strip. On Thursday night, soldiers
discovered improvised explosive devices on the border fence near Khan
Younis in the Gaza Strip. The devices were neutralized without
incident with the help of helicopter cover.

Security forces were urged to exercise restraint during the marches
and to allow the day’s events to pass with minimal casualties.

On Friday morning, clashes between protesters and security forces
erupted at the Qalandia checkpoint. Dozens of Palestinians burned
tires and hurled rocks and Molotov cocktails at security forces, who
responded by firing rubber bullets and stun grenades.

In Jerusalem, dozens of protesters gathered outside the Damascus Gate
in the Old City, waving Palestinian flags. At the protest in Nabi
Saleh, near Ramallah, the IDF detained four people, according to the
Ma’an news agency, which was quoting an IDF spokesperson.

According to Ma’an, Palestinian security forces in Bethlehem formed a
human chain to prevent demonstrators there from reaching the
checkpoint.

Israel Police also raised its alert level and thousands of officers
were stationed in the northern and Jerusalem districts. To avoid
provocation at the Temple Mount, only women above the age of 40 and
men above the age of 45 were allowed to pray there on Friday. Deir
Hanna, an Arab village in the north, was set to hold one of the main
Land Day events, with similar events expected to be held in Jaffa and
in the Negev.

In a separate incident on Thursday night, youths from Isawiyya in
east Jerusalem threw Molotov cocktails at a bus driving past Mount
Scopus in Jerusalem. The bottles ignited on impact but the bus was
not set on fire. “I did not believe that something like this could
happen in our country,” one of the passengers said.